


I'm Not Who You Think I Am

by Maymaaike



Series: Niam Catfish Two-Shot [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Barely to none Zayn, Catfish - Freeform, Facebook, M/M, No Smut, Tears, Teeny Tiny Mention of Perrie, happy end, innuendos, only mentions of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2013-09-21
Packaged: 2017-12-27 05:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maymaaike/pseuds/Maymaaike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam met this guy online and was stupid enough to fall in love. He never doubted him for a second, but maybe he should've.</p>
<p>Inspired by Catfsih: the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Not Who You Think I Am

Liam was woken from his sleep because of his ringtone. It jingled obnoxiously loud in the quiet night as Liam stumbled out of his bed, cursing himself for laying his phone on his desk. It was around three o’ clock in the morning and he told himself to make sure to tell the person on the other side of the phone that before hanging up again and going back to sleep. But when he picked up his phone and saw ‘Jason’ on the caller ID, he changed his mind. 

Liam had met Jason online and it started out innocent, just a bit of talking when he was bored. He liked meeting new people and learning about them, and Jason was a very interesting man. Apart from being unbelievably handsome with his raven black hair and defined features, mature face and present muscles, he was also very smart and liked to talk about books and history. He worked a lot, travelling the world for the business he had a high position in. Jason always called it boring and lame, but Liam loved to listen to his stories and adventures. Jason was a very humble man, he had a perfect life but was still very grounded. He had tons of money but didn’t spend it on useless things. He was also very funny, often making Liam laugh at his cell phone. The two just clicked right away. They talked for a few months before exchanging numbers and texting almost every day. They could talk about anything, ranging from silly little banter to deep emotional conversations. Liam tried to deny it for a while, but after seven months he’d finally admitted to himself that he loved Jason. He didn’t tell Jason that, though, he’d wait until the right moment. For example after they would’ve met a few times. 

But that hadn’t happened yet. His friends called him crazy, his best friends were worried, but Liam ignored them all. Yeah, he and Jason only chatted and texted, they didn’t call or Skype or anything like that, but that didn’t matter. They could text throughout the day and Jason most certainly didn’t have the time to call that often, always being busy. Jason had wanted to come over a few times, but things came up and Liam understood that. He was a bit disappointed or sad, but he realised there were more important stuff than that. He cherished the friendship he had with Jason and was willing to wait an eternity for him to finally visit.  
After a year of the new friendship, Liam had moved out of his shared apartment and moved into one of his own, one where Louis wouldn’t nag him on about the dangers of meeting people online and continuously remind him that Jason could be a fraud. Liam didn’t want to believe that, he knew Jason and Jason was one hundred percent genuine. He didn’t doubt that. Louis got on his nerves, especially when he got a boyfriend and that boy started talking to Liam about it as well. Liam had like the lanky boy with the weird hairdo up until that moment and he had snapped at both him and Louis for being incredible twats. When Louis started talking about letting Harry move in with them, Liam snapped again and moved away. He was still in touch with his friends, he’d known Louis since birth and wouldn’t just leave him, but it had become noticeably less because all Louis could talk about was Jason. Liam found himself often declining Louis’ calls since then. 

He’d known Jason for nineteen months that day, the day Jason called him for the first time. Liam stood there for a while, shaking all over. He shuffled to his bed and took a deep breath. Why would Jason decide to call him at that moment? In the middle of the night? Liam realised that he probably was somewhere at the other side of the earth for business so he’d forgotten he was waking Liam with his call. Liam took another breath, focusing on his ears to not miss a sound of the first time he’d hear Jason’s voice, and accepted the call. He held the phone to his ear anxiously and hoped his voice would sound alright.

“Hello?”  
The response didn’t come. He only heard some muffled noises on the other side. Liam’s insides stirred, what if it was just an accidental pocket-call?  
“Hello? Jason?” He tried again.  
A sound broke through, quickly being muffled and it sounded like a sob. Then Liam got worried, all the worst scenarios running through his head. What if Jason was held hostage?  
“Jason, are you alright?” He asked, holding his breath as he waited for an answer.  
He got an answer, a very soft and most definitely very emotional ‘oh my god’. Liam smiled a bit, putting his hopes up and telling himself Jason was just very nervous to finally make the call. He chuckled softly.  
“I know, it’s weird to be on the phone with you.” He spoke, chewing on his lip before adding “Can I hear your voice, Jason?”.  
Then Liam was sure Jason was crying and he wished he could be there –wherever that was- to comfort him, run his hands through his black hair while cradling him close.  
“It’s okay.” He soothed, murmuring soft comforting words into the phone and hoping to calm Jason down.  
“I’m s-so... so sorry, Liam.” 

First, Liam drunk in the sound of his voice, which was strangled by emotions, and smiled to himself as he finally heard what he’d wished for so long. But then, the words sunk in and he frowned into space.  
“What do you mean?” He asked softly, his gut suddenly painfully churning.  
“I-I never thought I... that w-we... I’m so sorry.”  
Liam suddenly felt a bit dizzy, whatever was happening wasn’t going to be good and it made his head spin.  
“I n-never meant to hu-hurt you, b-but now I...” Jason was struggling to speak clearly and it frustrated Liam.  
“Jason, what the hell is going on?” He demanded, stepping way out of character because of the horrible feeling in his gut.  
Jason let out a heart-wrenching wail before stuttering out a reply. “I-I l-lied to y-you...”  
“Would you mind telling me what you’ve lied about?” Liam’s voice was still determined, but then to cover up the way he felt like he was crumbling down inside.  
Jason let out shuddering breaths at the other side of the line, softly sniffling into the receiver. “I’m not who you think I am.”

Liam curled up on his bed, fetal position, and covered his mouth with his hand as if to keep himself together. Silent tears streamed down his face as the words sunk into his brain. He vaguely registered Jason’s apologies that flowed out of his mouth like a waterfall and the thought absentmindedly crossed his mind that at least the man was feeling bad about it. Liam ended the call numbly, without another word, and curled further into himself, wishing to disappear.

 

The first time he moved from that position was when Louis barged into his bedroom, he tilted his head further into the sheets, nearly suffocating himself. He vaguely wondered how Louis had gotten in, he couldn’t recall giving him keys. He didn’t really elaborate his train of thoughts, noticing that he was now huddled in Louis’ lap instead of lying with his face pressed into the damp patch of sheets, moistened with his own tears. Soft, soothing words left Louis’ lip and almost reached Liam’s ears, which brought them both back to the pervious times they’d been in the same position, or the other way around. Liam’s phone buzzed for the umpteenth time, and Liam hadn’t looked but was sure his inbox was filled with texts from Jason. Even thinking his name hurt and he let out another sob. 

“It’s gonna be fine, love. I’m going to take a look at these texts now, yea?” Louis spoke softly and gently, reaching for Liam’s phone. In that moment he was so glad that he didn’t leave Louis completely, because no other person in the world would’ve known what to do with him. Louis did, he knew better than to ask stupid questions about what was wrong, knew he needed to find out for himself because Liam simply didn’t speak about things like that, knew he had to announce whatever he was doing so Liam felt he still had some say in if Louis was allowed to, knew that Liam would always allow him to.  
One arm left his place curled around Liam, but the other arm made up for it by squeezing tighter. Liam was way too big to fit into Louis’ lap and it probably looked very uncomfortable, but it didn’t matter to either one of them because Liam just needed Louis that close. He softly mewled into Louis’ –now ruined with snot and whatever poured out of Liam’s emotional face- sweater as he listened to the soft clicking and tapping on his phone. 

There was a silence for a moment before Louis melted even more around Liam’s body, a sign that he’d figured it out. His phone was laid back down and the other arm encircled Liam again, very tightly, as Louis rocked them both softly, pressing kisses into Liam’s hair and murmuring softly to him. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry…” Liam snuffed loudly before he spoke with his horse and cracked voice. “You were right… all along, you were-” He broke out into a new wave of tears and clung to his best friend tighter. “That’s not the point, Li. What happened is horrible and we’re gonna sort this out, okay?” Louis didn’t expect an answer, affectionately brushing Liam’s hair out of his face. 

He pushed the large body away from its safe haven and looked into the watery eyes. “You go take a short shower, I’ll be here with comfortable clothes and food, yea?” Louis smiled sweetly at his distressed friend, glad that he knew exactly what to do to get him back to himself so he only had to focus on fixing his problem. Liam nodded like a confused five-year-old when parents tell them what to do when they don’t have a clue. He quietly slipped into his bathroom and Louis swiftly set to work; fixing some dinner with the ingredients he brought, giving Liam’s bed a new sheet and getting some air into the small bedroom. He blindly grabbed Liam’s outfit for when he was sick or feeling down, even though he’d never been into Liam’s new apartment. 

The reason Louis had dropped by was because he knew something was wrong. Call him over protective, but when Liam moved out of their shared apartment, still as attached to this online dude as ever, Louis had visited both his neighbours to drop off his number in cases of emergency. One of the neighbours had called him, telling she could hear Liam cry through the walls of the apartment and Louis had never been so grateful of any person in his life. She’d waited for Louis to arrive in front of Liam’s door, explaining she hadn’t heard anything but sobbing and wailing since the early morning. Louis knew for a fact when he’d entered and witnessed Liam lying there, the he hadn’t moved an inch since whatever it was started and he hadn’t eaten. Again he was glad he was so over protective, because Liam had absolutely no food stocked. Louis was more worried than ever, wondering if his best mate had taken good care of himself since he lived alone. He could worry and ask about that later, though, as he needed to focus on the main problem first. He was frustrated with himself, because he didn’t know what to do. How would Liam ever recover from what had happened? Louis rubbed at his face aggressively and swiftly dialled Harry’s number, something he always did when in doubt or panic or trouble or basically everything.  
He called Harry often. 

Harry and Louis had had many conversations about Liam’s situation. Louis had been worried from the start and Harry didn’t trust it either, but they never actually discussed what to do when their worries would become reality. The man Liam had been in love with for so long, the man he’d given up so much for, had lied to him, cheated him. Louis had always wanted to believe Jason’s credibility, although he knew better than to trust, he was so happy for Liam to have found his ‘one’. Liam had had many struggles and if anyone, Liam deserved a beautiful romance. Maybe Louis was a bit biased, but he knew for sure that Liam didn’t deserve what had happened.  
Harry was shocked to hear what Louis had to say, but some part of him had also expected it. He was just too perfect, with his looks and his job and his wisdom, and his excuses for not visiting were always a bit farfetched. But he’d never asked Liam to do anything for him, never asked for money or a favour or anything else. So why would he lie to Liam for so long, what was in it for him? That was what kept Harry thinking and he explained it all to Louis, telling him to focus on getting Liam calm and help him over the initial shock before acting out. He promised to come over after work to figure out what to do and wished his boyfriend all the luck in the world, but that was the best he could do at that moment. Louis was still very grateful for that, because only hearing his lover speak helped him calm down and think straight again. 

Louis helped Liam into his clothes, nothing they hadn’t done together before, before sitting him at the dining table and feeding him his food while eating his own. He alternated from soft comforting words to reality checks and making him promise not to slip into depression. Liam really did try his best, but he just couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that Jason had lied to him. That Jason wasn’t Jason. 

Harry came over as he’d promised and helped Louis with getting Liam back to full consciousness. Liam wanted to take back the nasty thoughts he’d had about the boy, he was wise and stern and that was exactly what Liam needed alongside Louis. Louis was there to let him know nobody was angry and that it would be fine and Harry was there to get a picture of the future, of their plan. “Okay, so like I’ve said before, we need to know his motive. I mean, you’d want to know why he did it too, right?” Liam nodded steadily, his head back from the whirlwind it’d been caught in and listening intently to Harry’s deep and certain voice. “So, I’m going to go into a separate room and have a call with him, and you two are going to stay here and drink some tea and try to ultimately relax. I’ll come back to tell what we’ve discussed and how we’re going to move forward, because that the only direction from here on, okay?” Liam nodded again, watching as Harry grabbed his phone from the coffee table and walked away. He let out a deep breath and slumped backwards into Louis’ awaiting arms, forever grateful for those two lads. 

“Liam?” A hopeful voice sounded through the phone.  
“No, sorry, this is Harry, a friend of Liam’s.” Harry spoke, sure to sound neutral and not angry. He was slowly sauntering through the guestroom as he heard Jason’s breath catch.  
“O-Oh, uh... god I’m so sorry.” Harry noticed the voice sounded clearly Irish and wondered if Liam knew that.  
“Yeah, I know that. And, even though I’m on Liam’s side, I want to give you your fair chance too.” Harry heard another gasp and smiled a bit to himself, glad to play the good cop.  
“Really? I mean, I’d totally understand if you just want to beat me up or something but I-”  
“I’m not saying I don’t want to, what you pulled was nasty. But I want to give you a chance to explain why.” The voices contrasted immensely, Harry calm and stern and in control while the other was frantic and rushed.  
“Will you let us come over to talk this through, Jason?” Harry questioned. 

“Niall.” Harry fell quiet for a moment. “My name’s Niall.” The voice spoke awkwardly.  
Harry straightened himself and frowned, this man had lied about everything. “Oh, well, can we come over, Niall?” He rephrased.  
“Yeah, yea of course. Shit. It’s the least I can do.” Niall spoke hastily. He rattled off an address and Harry ended the call, walking back to the living room where the two best friends were curled up together and sitting in front of the telly without really watching it. 

“So, his name’s actually Niall Horan, and we’re going to fly out to Ireland to pay him a visit and talk everything through.” Harry declared steadily, already whipping out Liam’s laptop to book for the next flight while Louis dealt with the new wave of emotion that swept over Liam.

-

They took a flight the next day, calling off work for the next few days. They’d booked a hotel nearby Niall’s house to stay and had already rented a car to drive around. Harry had arranged everything, and Liam kept thanking him profusely, ignoring when Harry would try to brush it off as nothing. After all those months where Liam would treat them both poorly when they were actually right, Liam couldn’t understand that they were so compassionate and helpful. He smiled a bit sadly to himself as he saw Harry and Louis cuddled up together on the plane, and turned to stare out of the window instead. He hadn’t slept at all that night, all he could think about was Niall and why he’d lied to Liam all those months and how his meeting with the man would go. And then his damned mind started to bring up every little thing Jason had told about himself and wondering if it was true or not. So he wasn’t really surprised that he found himself dozing off a few times during the short plane flight, although he wasn’t able to really sleep because of the nerves. 

Those nerves only grew as he sat in the rental car with Harry and Louis as they drove to Niall’s home. He was fidgeting and chewing at his lips and cheeks and fingernails as they came closer and closer to their destination. When the car stopped it felt so out of the blue to Liam, as if one moment they were on the highway and then Harry just pulled the keys out of the ignition. But they had, in fact, reached the address that Niall had given, and Louis and Harry turned in their seats to see Liam trembling all over. Louis swiftly moved between the chairs to where Liam was sat, easily squeezing through the small car with his petite body. “It’s gonna be fine, love. Harry and I are here to help you guys through it, okay? You alright? Ready?” Liam didn’t nod or agree or affirm, he just silently slid out of the car when Harry opened his door for him and stayed behind as they walked up to Niall’s front door. 

Harry looked back to Liam once, who didn’t even show a sign of recognition or consciousness for that matter, before he rang the doorbell. As they waited, Liam took in the building they were stood in front of. It was old, simple and a bit dingy. Liam sighed, another reminder that he was not meeting Jason, the rich and successful businessman. The lads could hear stumbling behind the door, muffled sounds and muttering before locks were unlocked and the door swung open. 

All the breath left Liam’s lungs. Somehow, he’d forgotten that Jason lied about everything, everything including his looks. The person he was met with couldn’t have been a bigger contrast to what he’d said he was. Instead of a tall, tan and muscled body, Liam saw pale skin, pudgy at the stomach and thighs and a boy that was just a little over 5.5 ft. Where deep pools of a chocolate and whiskey combination were supposed to be was a dull blue with tints of gray. Dark raven locks replaced by very blonde hair. A defined, mature face exchanged by a soft and childlike look. A baggy T-shirt, regular jeans and socks with holes in them where stylish designer clothes were supposed to be. This man was not what Liam had expected. This man was still a boy, and nothing like the person Liam knew. This boy wasn’t what Liam fell in love with. 

It all hit Liam too hard, like someone was throwing bricks at his chest. The person he fell in love with, the person he’d been in love with for the past year didn’t exist. He had to get over his feelings, had to move on from the person he was hoping to spend his life with. Liam vaguely registered Harry introducing the lot of them and the soft tugging from Louis. His eyes shifted and caught Louis’ worried look and he swallowed down all the emotions, daring to dart his head back to the fraud in front of him. The boy looked really tiny, smaller than he was because he looked so damn sad and desperate, tentatively reaching out his hand and murmuring a soft ‘hi’. Liam shook his hand, reminding himself that he was supposed to be open to the situation and that there was no need to be mean to the boy, even though he seemingly ruined Liam´s life. 

Harry was taking in the situation, eyes flitting from Liam to Niall and deciding what to do. “So, the First Impression is done with. Niall, would you mind talking a bit to me first? So Liam and Louis can also let everything sink in.” He spoke, prepared to be the leader and upper hand of the meeting. Niall nodded numbly, eyes still trained solely on Liam, whose eyes were glued to the ground. It took a few moments for Niall to rip his gaze from Liam and lead Harry into his home, seeing Louis lead Liam back to sit in the car. 

“So, Niall, would you please tell me your side of the story?” 

-

Liam couldn’t keep it in any longer, he didn’t know what, but he couldn’t keep it in. Maybe the realisation, or the disgust and anger towards Niall’s actions, he didn’t know, but he let it all out. Louis was quick to comfort him, if it were to be his job he deserved a promotion. “Shh, Li. What are the tears about? Are you just overwhelmed?” He questioned gently, wiping away some stray tears and breathing exaggeratedly to get Liam to follow his pace and calm down. Liam did a combination of shrugging, nodding and shaking his head all together. “I don’t know, Lou. I mean- God. He’s so not the man I fell in love with, I-” Louis cradled him tighter, craning his neck to see Harry and Niall sitting on the couch inside the house. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay, yeah Li? It’s not about love today, not about loving Niall or Jason or anybody. Today is about justice and knowing why this happened, after that we’ll go through the whole routine of getting over Jason. I’m already saving up tubes of ice cream.” Despite his tears, Liam let out a chuckle, and that was exactly what Louis was aiming for. 

Liam replayed the words in his head and something about it calmed him down. He needed to focus on getting answers, not moping about some non-existent guy. After a few minutes he felt collected enough to go back, so they did, knocking on the door again and waiting for someone to answer. Harry did, opening the door slightly as he spoke. “Guys, can you wait? He’s not quite finished yet.” He pleaded, eyes glancing back at where Niall was probably sat. “Can’t we just come in? So he doesn’t have to say everything twice?” Liam asked in return, really not wanting to wait any longer. “I guess,” Harry murmured, opening the door for Liam, who was stopped by Louis. “But, so far...?” He questioned, looking at Harry curiously and concerned. Harry nodded. “He’s a good lad.” He spoke, stepping aside to let Liam and Louis walk in. 

Liam spotted Niall on the couch, curled up against the armrest, eyes red and puffed and looking a right mess. Liam carefully sat down at the other side of the couch, Niall’s eyes focused on him anxiously. Liam opted for a small smile. “Look at the two of us, we look terrible.” He uttered, hands flailing between the two of them to give his words more meaning. Niall dared to let out a breathy laugh, sniffing and wiping away some tears.  
“I’m so sorry for what I did to you, Liam.” He said, mood suddenly serious again. Liam just nodded a bit, glad to hear the boy regretted his actions. “Why did you do it?” Liam asked, voice a bit hoarse from emotion. He saw Louis and Harry watching them from a small distance, but kept his focus on Niall as he waited for him to speak. 

Niall swallowed thickly a couple of times, hands restlessly fidgeting with the hem of his large jumper. “Well, I-uh...It’s just that I...” Niall glanced up at Harry who shot him a comforting smile, ushering him on. It helped, since it felt like he was on Niall’s side too and he’d said that Liam would understand if he told him what he’d told Harry. So he did.  
“Well, long story short, I’m not happy with myself. Not with how I look, or how I talk or what I’m gonna do with my life nor what I’ve done with it.” He sighed, opting for no eye contact until the story was out. “I don’t really know why I made the profile, maybe it was just some kind of sick need for confirmation, that I could only ever get someone to like me if I wasn’t....me...I don’t know.” Niall shrugged half-heartedly, plucking at his dirty socks. “I know this’ll sound very cheesy and you don’t have to do anything with it, but I just want you to know that the feelings were never a lie. You really did make me laugh and you did make me happy and I do think you’re amazing, when I look past all the guilt that it was packaged with...” Niall fell quiet, done with speaking for a while, and Liam took that opportunity to ask the question on his mind. 

“How did you become so unhappy?” He knew it was a rough question Niall probably didn’t want to answer, but after everything he’d been put through, Liam thought he was allowed to ask the difficult questions. 

And it was a difficult one, it hurt Niall to speak about it, and he wasn’t looking forward to tears.  
“I-I... I want to answer that, but I don’t mean to, like, crawl into the victim’s role. It might come across like that, but I really don’t mean it like that.” He assured, gladly welcoming another small comforting smile from Harry and a nod from Liam. Louis was just watching everything happen, calculating the best outcome for the both of them, a little more Liam than Niall, though. 

“Okay, so, well, basically some dude... dudes, actually, kind of, like... used me? And yeah, told me things and stuff and, well, because it happened, you know, more than just once I thought like... it couldn’t be an accident then, right? I mean, there must be some truth in there then and, uh, yeah, there is...so...” He trailed off, focusing on his breathing and trying to talk about it without all the memories and emotions involved. “I’m sorry, Niall.” The name felt foreign in Liam’s mouth, but he needed to say it. Whatever those pricks had done to him had made him feel so bad about himself, no one deserved that. 

“No, this is what I mean, I’m not the victim here, I’m the bad guy.” Niall stated exasperatedly, trying to force Liam to take back his pity. “It’s fine, Niall. I mean, what happened to you is truly horrible. It doesn’t take back what you did to me, but it does explain it a little bit.” Liam said, in no way wanting to keep holding a grudge towards the boy. “It’s not an excuse for what I did, Liam. How can I ever make this up to you? I can’t!” Niall cried out. At that moment Harry interfered. “Let me speak for Liam here, because all you guys are doing is saying the same thing over and over again with a different variety of words.” He said resolutely. He’d watched enough of the blame ping-pong, he was all about moving forward.  
“Look, this isn’t about making up for what happened. This isn’t about what happened in the past. What we came here for is to know why you did what you did, and we know that now. I think it’s a good plan if we head back to the hotel and we all let everything sink in, because it has been a lot today.” Liam nodded in agreement, Louis was smiling up at him like he personally arranged the stars in the sky and Niall just looked very scared. 

“A-are you gonna be back? Or is this it?” He questioned softly, curling in on himself some more out of instinct. Harry looked over at Liam, laying the decision in his hands, and Liam looked over at Niall on the other end of the couch. It definitely wasn’t finished yet, he could not leave Niall behind here, knowing how shit he thought about himself. Whatever he’d done to Liam didn’t really matter to him anymore, he just felt so bad for the cowering blonde boy, insecurities eating at him almost visibly. “We’ll be back tomorrow, yeah? We’ll talk some more, without all the stupid tears, and get to know each other, okay? The real each other.” Liam smiled carefully, but it widened as he saw how happy and hopeful Niall looked at him. He knew for sure he made the right decision when Louis and Harry were smirking at him, the entire way back to the hotel. 

-

“Hey Li?” Liam looked up from his book, seeing Louis come out of the small attached bathroom. He hummed in response, reading the last sentence of the chapter before putting the book away, hoping to remember which page he’s at. Louis sat at the end of his small bed. They’d rented a room for three people, but that meant one bed for two and a chair that could fold out into a bed. Luckily, Liam could fall asleep anywhere. “You know, you did the right thing today.” Louis smiled, patting softly at his feet. Liam smiled back shyly, glad to hear he made the right decision. “Yeah, I mean, if you would’ve just left him there, you would’ve been another guy that made Niall feel like he’s feeling now.” Harry appeared with a toothbrush in his mouth, leaning against the wall to listen into the conversation and nodding along with Louis’ words. Liam smiled again, feeling like a toddler who’s gotten praise from his parents. 

“I just feel like we could be friends, if I got to know him. I just realised I wasn’t that mad at him anymore.” Louis squeezed his ankle before pattering off to his side of the big bed. Harry sauntered back into the bathroom, and in a moment of sheer brilliance, Liam jumped up and moved over to crouch down at Louis. He lazily turned his head to raise an eyebrow at his friend’s sudden outburst of energy. “Lou, after everything you’ve done for me, you deserve some time alone.” He stated, sparking Louis’ interest. “So I’m gonna go down to the cafe with the spare key and I’ll stay down for like an hour or something, just so you know.” He said feigning casualty. Louis grinned at him and pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek before Liam slipped back into his shoes, grabbed the keys and left. 

 

When he came back some while later, Harry and Louis were fast asleep, cuddled so close that it was impossible to tell which limb belonged to whom. And Liam smiled at the endearing sight, trying and failing to look at them without a pang of jealousy. 

-

Liam had defriended Jason and looked up Niall Horan. Twenty minutes later he noticed that Jason’s profile was deleted.

-

Liam was dropped off at Niall’s house after lunch and the arranged time to pick him up again was three, just in case things didn’t go well.  
But they did go well.  
Niall opened the door in a loose singlet and the same jeans from the day before, a much more appropriate attire for the weather circumstances. They decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood, through a park nearby and eventually ended up back in Niall’s backyard. They’d talked non-stop as if they’d known each other way longer than they had. At times things became a bit awkward and apprehensive, especially when Liam was talking about something Niall already knew about him while everything that Niall told was new to Liam’s ears. 

When it was nearly three o’ clock, the two lads were sprawled out on the grass behind Niall’s house, looking up at the sky and sometimes talking. Liam slipped out his phone to look at the time and quickly sent a text to Louis telling him to pick him up before dinner. All he got back was a winky face.  
But even his newly bought time flew by like it was nothing but mere minutes and it was spent talking and sometimes laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. And Liam vaguely realised that that was how he’d wanted his first meet up with Jason to go. It was such a relief to talk about what happened without either one of them bursting into tears. Liam pestered Niall the entire day to accept his friend request and Niall told him he’d do it that night, but warning Liam that he often forgot things like that. 

When they heard car doors slam and voices approached, the two lads called out loudly, hoping Louis and Harry would hear them. Eventually a ‘polo’ answered their ‘Marco’ and Harry and Louis appeared, grinning at the two boys that were laying on the ground and still had red cheeks from all of their laughing fits. At least, that’s what Louis guessed and hoped, because he and Harry had looked exactly like that the night before, and he surely hoped those two hadn’t done something that reckless. As an afterthought, he added that maybe Liam needed a little reckless. He’d ask him later that night.  
They sat down and joined the conversation, which didn’t die down as they drove to the nearest fast food facility, nor when they were eating. 

As the three friends arrived back at their hotel room, with the promise of returning the next day before they’d catch the midnight flight back home, Harry and Louis tackled Liam down on their shared bed. And Liam played along, acting like he hadn’t expected that and didn’t know what they were going to ask him questions about.  
“So!” Harry declared dramatically and Liam groaned because he’d really hoped that Harry wouldn’t be such a drama queen (king?), because he could barely handle Louis alone in that state.  
“Yeah, so.” Louis repeated, nestling comfortably with his eyes not-so-comfortably boring into Liam’s head. “You and Niall get along great, yea?” He questioned and everybody in the room knew he was beating around the bush, but everyone played along. 

“Mhmm.” Liam hummed in agreement, pulling off the loose skin next to his fingernails. Harry let out a bark of laughter and sat up straight against the headboard. “The real question is: Did you guys seriously have sex in Niall’s backyard?” And. Okay. Liam did not expect that to be the real question. He showed that by choking on his own saliva, coughing maniacally. “No!” He exclaimed like only Liam could when his sex life was the topic of conversation. He’d go all red and flustered, eyes big and innocent as if he’d just learned what sex was. Louis laughed whole-heartedly at that, sympathetically patting Liam on the back.  
“Okay, okay, Li. Calm down, we’re just messing with you.” He laughed, shooting Harry an amused look. 

“In all seriousness, though,” He said when Liam had calmed down a bit, shooting them both nasty glares. “do you like him?” That was the question Liam had expected, not that he knew the answer yet. “Yeah, I like him, yeah.” He said casually. “I think we could be great friends.” And that’s how he dodged the question and he was immensely grateful that neither one of the boys asked the question that was a logical follow up to the conversation. He quickly fled to the bathroom, claiming it first that night, and the subject was dropped and only brought up again between Harry and Louis, exchanging their theories and suspicions. 

-

The day after seemed like an exact copy of the one before, Niall and Liam started talking and joking and laughing and simply didn’t stop. They ended up in Niall’s backyard again, because it had been so nice the day before, lying next to each other and exchanging words and stories. After one particularly funny joke from Niall that send Liam into so much laughter it took him minutes to breathe properly again, Niall suddenly was very serious.  
“Liam?” He asked tentatively, causing Liam’s smile to falter as he turned his head to look at Niall. Niall kept a stern gaze up into the sky, finding it easier not to look into Liam’s eyes as he spoke. “What is it, Ni?” Liam lowered his voice to match the ambiance, wondering what Niall was so worried about. 

“If you would’ve seen my profile on Facebook, do you think you would’ve talked to me like you did to Jason?” It took that sentence for Niall to shrink back to how small and insecure he looked when Liam first met him. Liam stayed silent for a moment, really thinking about the question because he thought that Niall only deserved the truest answer.  
“If it were the exact same conditions, then yeah. I was just looking for someone to talk to who would reply back quickly. So if you would’ve been online then, then yeah.” He said, eyeing Niall and seeing there was more.  
“But do you think it could’ve gone the same way as it went with Jason?” He asked. That exact question had kept Liam up all night the night before and he smiled secretly to himself. Because he’d found an answer to the question, after the unwanted wave of disappointment when he’d seen Niall hadn’t accepted his friend request yet, he knew for sure. 

Liam turned onto his side completely and laid his hand on Niall’s upper arm. He felt the body tense before Niall turned his head to look back at Liam with so much uncertainty and hope that it looked nearly painful. “Ni, in the last few days I’ve got to know you, the real you, and it has been really nice. And I realised something yesterday, and that is what exactly I liked about Jason.” Niall frowned as he listened to Liam’s words, bracing himself for what could happen. “What I liked about him was how he could make me laugh, how funny he was, and how he could always help me out with my problems our doubts. I loved Jason for how he made me feel, and today and yesterday I noticed that that is exactly the part of Jason that was You.” 

Niall’s eyes shot up from where they were wandering down, as he was actually trying to strengthen himself for the expected rejection. He was met with those beautiful eyes he’d been pining over for what felt like decades, and they were full with a shocking amount of sincerity as they pierced right back into Niall’s. And suddenly both of the lads were struggling to get the air back into their chests, as they only then let themselves look at the beauty in front of them. 

The features that had been so disappointing and mediocre to Liam merely two days ago, were suddenly the most beautiful things he’d even laid eyes on. The milky white skin, untouched and pure. His blue eyes that were –unlike Louis’, that were more like the deep blue of the ocean- the sky, with whites and greys, and when Liam looked at them it felt like flying. His imperfections that showed Liam that he was, in fact, real and not a photoshopped Google Image. Everything about Niall was genuine and real, and maybe not perfect or outstanding, but unique, and that was important to Liam.

And Niall, who had been holding himself back ever since Liam showed up at his door, could finally look at Liam with the wonder and admiration he felt towards him. He couldn’t believe that someone as pretty, someone as nice and smart as Liam could settle for so much less than he deserved. Niall was certainly not in his league, but somehow Liam made him feel like leagues didn’t exist and that the price tag he’d been given by others didn’t say anything.  
And while Niall’s first instinct was to backtrack Liam’s words for him, to let him know that he wasn’t any good for him, something in Liam’s face – maybe how he looked back at Niall with just as much wonder and admiration- washed that all away. And he took the words and locked them in his heart, in a way that he usually would call very selfish, because he wanted nothing more to believe them and he sure as hell was going to try. 

“God, Niall, you’re amazing.”  
And before Niall could lock those breathily spoken words away with the rest, before he could fully comprehend them and let them make him feel good about himself, Liam was cradling his head in his large hands and kissed Niall so softly, so gently, but still so present, that Niall felt like he was soaring. He tried his best to match the kiss, to kiss back, but he wasn’t really used to that. He was used to rough and hard kisses that weren’t actually pleasant and over before Niall could respond, and this was a very welcomed alternative. He tried his best to let Liam know what he felt towards him through the kiss and he hoped the boy received the message. 

Liam ended the kiss with a last peck to Niall’s lips and slowly opened his eyes as a shy grin spread on his lips. Niall’s eyes seemed to sparkle and Liam took that as a good sign. Neither of the boys knew what to say, so Liam simply leant in again to deliver butterfly kisses to Niall’s soft lips. At first Niall didn’t really understand what Liam was doing, but the tiny tickling kisses that kept coming made him giddy and he puckered his lips to meet Liam in the same pace. They both chuckled at the feeling and kept going for what felt like hours. Liam had folded his hands together behind Niall’s head, his thumbs softly stroking through the blonde hair. Every now and then Liam would drop a kiss on Niall’s nose, just because it scrunched up so cutely whenever he did. Both of the lads knew that Liam was going home that night, but they chose not to speak about it, instead enjoying each other for as long as they could. 

It was nearing dinner time and Liam and Niall were cuddled up and watching the sky darken as the sun went down when loud shouts came from around the house.  
“Guys! If you’re having kinky backyard sex right now please say so!” Louis called out, earning a loud groan from Liam.  
“Wow! Are we really interrupting something?” Liam looked up to see Harry and Louis appear from around the house, Harry smiling dopily as he led Louis- who had his eyes covered with his hands- forward.  
“Fuck off Lou!” Liam shouted back, but a smile played at his lips too, maybe because of how Harry was looking at the entangled boys and shot Liam a sweet smile. 

“Harry, I honestly have no idea, are they naked?” Louis asked, hands still firmly pressed against his eyes as he stage whispered to his boyfriend.  
“No, love, they are both very decent and cute.” Harry grinned, plopping down on the grass and pulling Louis with. Louis carefully peeked from underneath his fingers, and smiled hugely when he saw Niall and Liam, who made no point in getting out of the most comfortable position in the world. Only then did they notice the pizza Harry had brought and Niall shot up, much to Liam’s dismay, to rip open the box and take a slice. So the four boys sat and ate and chatted amicably until they could barely make out each other’s faces in the dark. 

“You know, we found out who the lad is you used the picture for Jason for.” Harry grinned, sparking Liam’s interest. Louis smiled too. “Yeah, his name’s Zayn and he’s engaged to a pretty blonde girl.” They all laughed at that, even Liam who realised he’d been pining over a straight guy for more than a year.  
“Pretty ones are always straight, aren’t they?” Niall mused.  
“Not this one.” Liam replied, slinging an arm around him and tugging him into his chest as Niall blushed a very deep shade of red.  
“Ahw, already so cute.” Louis cooed, planting a sloppy kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek, who kissed him back on the crown of his head.  
“Yes, we’re all very cute.” He decided. 

Saying goodbye was very hard for both Liam and Niall. After having each other for an entire day, able to kiss whenever they wanted was a luxury they now had to miss. Going back to calling and texting would be the hardest thing ever. Luckily, Harry had scheduled more than enough time for the two to say goodbye without them missing their flight, and the boys used every last second of it hugging, kissing and whispering through their tears.  
“I promise I’ll come back really soon, okay? My next break is in a few weeks.” Liam murmured, forehead pressed to Niall’s as his thumbs tried to wipe away his tears. Niall nodded weakly, pressing another kiss to Liam’s wet and salty lips. “Never thought this would be so hard, you know?” He confessed softly, burying himself deeper into Liam’s embrace, one he was going to have to miss too. 

“Ni?” Liam questioned after a while. Niall looked up from his embrace to see a small smile on Liam’s lips, and he couldn’t help but kiss it. “You got your phone with you?” Liam questioned and Niall nodded, retrieving it from his pocket to show.  
“Then please accept my friend request, you dolt.” Liam laughed and Niall hastily set to do so, embarrassed about forgetting it. As he’d done so, he looked up with an apologetic smile, only to see Liam preoccupied with his phone as well. Suddenly, his screen lit up and he glanced down, a grin spreading as he read the notification. ‘Liam Payne says he’s in a relationship with you, do you confirm?’ And he immediately did so, not wanting to forget it again. 

The two boys smiled at each other and sealed their newly made decision with a kiss, the last one they shared before Liam had to get onto his plane, leaving Niall only with some cash to take a cab back home and about fifty pictures of them together on his phone.

 

And even though Niall felt horrible and alone, he knew also that he felt happier than he’d ever had in his entire life. He knew that he and Liam could make it.


End file.
